Blab Crypto
Riot Platforms Secures $9.1 B Lease with Anthropic, Shifting from Bitcoin Mining to AI Infrastructure
Riot Platforms Inc. (NASDAQ: RIOT), a Texas‑based bitcoin miner, announced a 20‑year data‑center lease with the artificial‑intelligence company Anthropic that is valued at approximately $9.1 billion. The agreement will allocate 191 megawatts (MW) of power from Riot’s Rockdale campus to Anthropic for use in training and running large‑language models.
The deal was first reported by Bloomberg and confirmed by CNBC’s David Faber. Riot’s Rockdale facility, which has long been used for bitcoin mining, will now host a significant portion of the power that Anthropic needs to support its Claude family of models. The lease is expected to generate $9.1 billion in revenue over the 20‑year term, rising to roughly $16.1 billion if the contract is extended for two additional five‑year periods.
Riot’s move follows an earlier 2026 agreement with Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) that added 50 MW of capacity at the same site. Together, the two contracts bring Riot’s AI‑related commitments to about 241 MW, which the company estimates will produce $9.8 billion in contracted data‑center revenue, according to a note from Compass Point analyst Michael Donovan.
The bitcoin‑mining sector has been under pressure since the 2022 price decline and the 2024 halving event, which reduced mining profitability. Many publicly traded miners have responded by diversifying into data‑center and AI services, turning their existing infrastructure into a source of revenue that does not depend on bitcoin prices.
“Bitcoin‑miners‑turned‑AI‑infrastructure providers offer investors exposure to AI demand without requiring a bet on which model or application ultimately wins,” Donovan said. “The AI companies all require the same increasingly scarce power, compute capacity and physical facilities.”
Riot’s Rockdale campus is located in the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) region, which has seen heightened scrutiny of new power projects. Donovan noted that ERCOT’s increased oversight may slow speculative projects but does not reduce tenant demand for large blocks of near‑term power. “If anything, the scarcity of greenlit capacity should increase its strategic value,” he added.
The announcement triggered a sharp, though temporary, rise in Riot’s share price. Shares jumped more than 20 % in after‑hours trading on the day the deal was disclosed, before retreating to levels close to the pre‑announcement price.
Anthropic, founded in 2021 by former OpenAI employees, is a private‑benefit corporation headquartered in San Francisco. The company’s flagship product, Claude, is a series of large‑language models that compete with OpenAI’s GPT line. Anthropic has been expanding its infrastructure footprint to support the growing demand for AI compute.
Riot’s shift to AI infrastructure is part of a broader trend in the crypto industry. Other miners such as Cipher Mining, Hut 8 and Terawulf have also entered the AI space, while companies like Mara Holdings and CleanSpark have remained focused on bitcoin mining.
The 191 MW lease is significant because it represents a large, steady source of power that can be used for AI workloads, which typically require high‑density compute and cooling. The Rockdale campus, already equipped with robust power and cooling systems, is well‑suited for this purpose.
The deal is expected to contribute to Riot’s 2026 second‑quarter revenue, which the company reported at $174.2 million, a 14 % increase from the same period in 2025.
As the crypto market continues to evolve, investors are watching how miners like Riot balance their traditional bitcoin‑mining operations with new revenue streams from AI infrastructure. The long‑term success of this strategy will depend on the continued demand for AI compute, the stability of power contracts in Texas, and the ability of miners to repurpose existing facilities efficiently.
In summary, Riot Platforms’ $9.1 billion lease with Anthropic marks a significant pivot from pure bitcoin mining to a diversified data‑center model. The agreement provides a predictable revenue stream over two decades and positions Riot to benefit from the growing AI compute market while leveraging its existing Texas infrastructure.
The deal was first reported by Bloomberg and confirmed by CNBC’s David Faber. Riot’s Rockdale facility, which has long been used for bitcoin mining, will now host a significant portion of the power that Anthropic needs to support its Claude family of models. The lease is expected to generate $9.1 billion in revenue over the 20‑year term, rising to roughly $16.1 billion if the contract is extended for two additional five‑year periods.
Riot’s move follows an earlier 2026 agreement with Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) that added 50 MW of capacity at the same site. Together, the two contracts bring Riot’s AI‑related commitments to about 241 MW, which the company estimates will produce $9.8 billion in contracted data‑center revenue, according to a note from Compass Point analyst Michael Donovan.
The bitcoin‑mining sector has been under pressure since the 2022 price decline and the 2024 halving event, which reduced mining profitability. Many publicly traded miners have responded by diversifying into data‑center and AI services, turning their existing infrastructure into a source of revenue that does not depend on bitcoin prices.
“Bitcoin‑miners‑turned‑AI‑infrastructure providers offer investors exposure to AI demand without requiring a bet on which model or application ultimately wins,” Donovan said. “The AI companies all require the same increasingly scarce power, compute capacity and physical facilities.”
Riot’s Rockdale campus is located in the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) region, which has seen heightened scrutiny of new power projects. Donovan noted that ERCOT’s increased oversight may slow speculative projects but does not reduce tenant demand for large blocks of near‑term power. “If anything, the scarcity of greenlit capacity should increase its strategic value,” he added.
The announcement triggered a sharp, though temporary, rise in Riot’s share price. Shares jumped more than 20 % in after‑hours trading on the day the deal was disclosed, before retreating to levels close to the pre‑announcement price.
Anthropic, founded in 2021 by former OpenAI employees, is a private‑benefit corporation headquartered in San Francisco. The company’s flagship product, Claude, is a series of large‑language models that compete with OpenAI’s GPT line. Anthropic has been expanding its infrastructure footprint to support the growing demand for AI compute.
Riot’s shift to AI infrastructure is part of a broader trend in the crypto industry. Other miners such as Cipher Mining, Hut 8 and Terawulf have also entered the AI space, while companies like Mara Holdings and CleanSpark have remained focused on bitcoin mining.
The 191 MW lease is significant because it represents a large, steady source of power that can be used for AI workloads, which typically require high‑density compute and cooling. The Rockdale campus, already equipped with robust power and cooling systems, is well‑suited for this purpose.
The deal is expected to contribute to Riot’s 2026 second‑quarter revenue, which the company reported at $174.2 million, a 14 % increase from the same period in 2025.
As the crypto market continues to evolve, investors are watching how miners like Riot balance their traditional bitcoin‑mining operations with new revenue streams from AI infrastructure. The long‑term success of this strategy will depend on the continued demand for AI compute, the stability of power contracts in Texas, and the ability of miners to repurpose existing facilities efficiently.
In summary, Riot Platforms’ $9.1 billion lease with Anthropic marks a significant pivot from pure bitcoin mining to a diversified data‑center model. The agreement provides a predictable revenue stream over two decades and positions Riot to benefit from the growing AI compute market while leveraging its existing Texas infrastructure.
